Construction Product Manufacturer of the Year, ACO Technologies, is extending the versatility of its successful slot drainage system Qmax® with the introduction of two new, smaller capacity models Qmax 225 and Qmax 350. Ideal for draining small and medium sized hardstanding areas such as car parks, pedestrian areas and distribution yards, both the new sizes retain the unique performance and installation features found on the two established, larger models, Qmax 900 and 600. These were central to the Qmax system winning this year’s Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation and have proved to deliver significant benefits for contractors, engineers and the environment.
The new models have circular bores of 225mm and 350mm and are both manufactured from recycled Medium Density Polyethylene (MDPE), making them lightweight, robust and highly resistant to chemical corrosion. Each is fitted with ACO’s patented Continuous Pavement Beam Inlet which allows an unbroken reinforced slab to be cast around and through the inlet without breaking the line of the finished surface slot.
“The Qmax design concept was created from a demand by engineers and contractors for a new high capacity line drainage system that could be installed quickly and reduce the amount of traditional drainage infrastructure required – so reducing costs and shortening project timescales” says Peter Ridgway, Market Development Manager at ACO Technologies. “The original system has proven so successful that we have now extended the Qmax range to bring these benefits to smaller catchment applications where the time and cost savings are equally significant.”
A standard two metre length of Qmax 225 weighs 13kg, while the larger Qmax 350 weighs just 17kg. Safe to manually handle, both sizes can be easily and accurately cut at special ‘cut-points’ that are moulded into each section at every 200mm. Each section is also fitted with a twin-lipped neoprene seal that provides a 100% seal, preventing any leakage or infiltration.
As with the larger Qmax sizes, the 225 and 350 models each have two galvanised steel inlet edge rail options. The concrete edge rail, for industrial applications and concrete slab finishes, provides a continuous 30mm slot. The heelguard edge rail is suitable for installations where pedestrians are expected and gives a continuous 10mm slot.
All the Qmax models are certified to carry loads up to Load Class F900. They are also fully compatible with each other, allowing versatile, comprehensive systems to be created to suit virtually catchment, application or site layout.